The conference which held at the Honeywell Group Auditorium of the university from Monday, 24 - 26 August 2009, saw the presentation of papers from students, academics and professional media practitioners from all fields of journalism and communication spanning - broadcasting, print media, corporate communication, new media etc.
In an introductory presentation, the Dean - School of Media and Communication, (SMC) Professor Emevwo Biakolo said that, the mission of the school is the formation of media and communication professionals to enable them pursue their calling of service to human culture with a sense of creativity, skill, knowledge and values, thereby contributing to the professional excellence of the creative industries in our country and the continent of Africa. He added that the school has a vision to be the leading school in Nigeria and Africa in research, training and service for professionals in media and communication who would uphold the highest intellectual, ethical and professional values consistent with best practice.
The keynote speaker at the conference and the chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC - Engr. Ernest Ndukwe took the audience to a presentation on the functions of the Commission and the role telecommunication is playing in shaping and reshaping contemporary life. According to him, in recent years, major advances in ICTs and the rapid growth of global digital telephony networks, as well as internet and broadband services have transformed businesses and markets and generated significant wealth and economic growth in many countries.
“The interconnection of computers, based on the internet protocol, has brought about greater efficiency and better information sharing and management. ICT is driving the global economy. People, businesses and communities with ready access to information technologies are better equipped to participate actively in the global economy. According to him, the ICT Industry in Nigeria has about 68 million telephone lines connected by July 2009. This is rapid compared to a total subscriber level of less than half a million in July 2001.”
He said that, this rapid growth can be attributed largely to the enabling and conducive environment for investment with respect to government policy and regulatory regime. The wide-availability of digital mobile services has also led to improvements in efficiency and productivity, reduction in transaction costs, increased service innovation and better quality of life. Digital participation is key to building a 21st century knowledge economy and that without ICT a nation or person cannot reach her full potential in today's world, he added.
In his presentation titled "Digitisation and radio broadcasting in Nigeria", Ben Egbuna, former director general of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, (FRCN) said that access to broadband has also been identified as key to keeping public and private sector businesses competitive in any modern economy. “Digital mobile phones and the internet are driving a new level of connectivity that were hitherto unknown. Broadband enables us to use one universal network to support any and all media. Our ability to economically deliver broadband to locations not connected by fixed wires in locations such as remote villages, deserts, trains, beach huts and ocean liners—means the network can finally go wherever it's needed.”
Nwakerendu Ike of Corporate Communications, Insurance PHB Limited in his paper "Broadcast journalism in the age of globalisation: prospects and challenges", said that the influence of advancement in information and communication technologies (ICTs) on broadcasting in contemporary times is quite overwhelming. Virtually every aspect of the broadcast system is being revolutionised by the applications of the ICTs. He noted that apart from the usefulness of computers in terms of media economy and parsimony, it has come to generate effects that have made mass communication more beautiful and less tasking than it has ever been.
“The environment that has made this ICT influence possible is globalisation. Globalisation is the process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together. Globalisation is often used to refer to economic globalisation: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology. This process is usually recognised as being driven by a combination of economic, technological, socio-cultural, political and biological factors. The term can also refer to the transnational dissemination of ideas, languages, or popular culture.”
According to him, technology as a factor in the process of globalisation, has affected broadcast journalism in significant ways over the years. “The growth which the industry has experienced that has brought changes from what it used to be in the ancient times to the present state has been driven by changes in technology.”
He said that, these changes have been primarily powered by information and communication technology (ICT), which has to do with the digitalisation of communication and information dissemination strategies. ICTs involve the fussion of telecommunication and computer communication technologies.
The conference saw the presentation of papers from media and communication scholars across Africa. Some of them include: Dr. Jeremy Weate, vice president, digital, Timbuctu Media, Prof. David kerr, head of media studies, Boswana University; Dr. Tunde Adegbola, a research scientist and consulting engineer; Prof. Des Wilson, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Uyo; Joseph Hundah, MD, MultiChoice, Nigeria and many others. The conference counselled Nigerian journalists and all practitioners in the field of marketing communications to embrace the new media option which globalises their practise and makes work easy for all.
